Posted: Friday, January 10, 2014 6:36 pm New Jersey Hills
By PHIL GARBER, Staff Writer | 0 comments
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‘Traffic Jam’ takes fans back to golden years of rock
The audience will be "Feeling Alright" at the "Traffic Jam" that is likely to crowd the Mayo Center for the Performing Arts in Morristown at 8 p.m., Saturday, Jan. 11.
Performing before the sold out crowd will be Dave Mason, one of the founders of the seminal group, "Traffic."
Traffic disbanded in 1969 amid personal and musical differences and since then Mason, 67, has remained in the music scene while his former band mate, Stevie Winwood, has had a number of hit songs.
In 2004, Mason was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame for his work with Traffic.
In years after Traffic, Mason has played with the likes of Delaney and Bonnie, the late Cass Elliot and Fleetwood Mac. Mason has recorded a number of solo albums including his newest, "Futures Past," with some new songs and a new version of the Traffic hits, "Dear Mr. Fantasy" and "You Can All Join In."
Mason's guitar work can be heard on landmark albums and songs such as the Rolling Stones' “Beggar's Banquet,” George Harrison's “All Things Must Pass,” Paul McCartney's “Listen To What The Man Said” and Jimi Hendrix's “Electric Ladyland.”
Hendrix's rock standard "All Along The Watchtower" features Mason on acoustic guitars before Hendrix's soaring performance.
Mason lives in California and while he said he's never been to Morristown, he has visited a friend's home in Peapack-Gladstone.
Traffic was still not very well known when the band did its first U.S. tour in 1968. The band was mostly known for the song, "Feelin' Alright" after it was recorded and turned into a major hit by Joe Cocker.
"People were aware of Traffic but it wasn't a big band by any stretch," Mason said.
Mason said the members of Traffic wrote and recorded "great songs" and that he thinks he should continue to play the old hits.
"I find it offensive when people don't want to play the great stuff," Mason said.
Mason has had some success in the years since Traffic disbanded. He has continued performing because of his love of the music even if he hasn't matched the popularity and fame of Traffic.
"I never got in this to become a star and I'm not a rock star," Mason said. "I got into it to make some money and meet some chicks. Being a star came along with the territory."
Back in the day Traffic and the Beatles were soaring alongside Martha and the Vandellas and James Brown. But the business has changed and there are no longer stations that carry a variety of sounds. And that has limited musicians like Mason.
He said he doesn't listen to the radio or current music very much and that his audience remains mostly his peers, in their 40s to their 70s. The music, however, remains powerful and Mason said younger fans should try it out.
"Music has become wallpaper to sell stuff," he said. "There is no real outlet for musicians like me. If the young kids turn up, they are blown away."
Mason said his early influences included bands like Hank Marvin and the Shadows, Eddie Cochran and Buddy Holly. He then began to blend his interest in the blues and jazz with the budding rock and roll sounds.
Mason's band includes a drummer, keyboard player and bass player, a singer and the newest member, guitarist Jason Roller.
"He plays his ass off on the guitar, mandolin, violin and banjo," Mason said.
Traffic included Mason, Winwood, Jim Capaldi and Chris Wood. Wood and Capaldi have both died and Mason said a reunion with Winwood is unlikely.
"He (Winwood) doesn't want to get together with me," Mason said, without further explanation.
Mason said the four musicians who joined to become Traffic were just teenagers but each added something unique to come up with the sound. It was similar, he said, to the Beatles with Paul McCartney the honey and John Lennon the vinegar. Mason often wrote his own music and lyrics while Capaldi and Winwood more often collaborated.
Mason has been doing much more than music in the four decades since Traffic split.
Six years ago, Mason and two friends, John Nikresh and Ted Knapp, formed "Work Vessels for Vets," a non-profit that helps veterans to start companies. The idea came from Nikresh, a lobster fisherman from Mystic, Conn., who approached his friend, Mason, to help buy an old boat for a veteran friend.
The organization has provided lap tops to new businesses, helped buy land and machinery for a bluebery farm in Florida and backed an start-up, office cleaning company in St. Louis, Mo.
"We don't have to be asked twice to support a person who defended our way of life," Mason said.
He's also on the board of "Little Kids Rock," a San Francisco-based non-profit that provides instruments for kids in need.
The Mayo Performing Arts Center is located at 100 South St., Morristown. For more information, visit
www.mayoarts.org.